SMCW: A beacon of women empowerment
The female population in India is about 48 per cent of the country’s population, totalling over 700 million individuals currently. Hence, girls’ education in India is considered essential, crucial and important for economic growth, reducing gender disparities, improving health outcomes and also enhancing social development. Promoting education ensures that girls can close the literacy gap and bridge inequality gaps, especially in rural areas. Interestingly, female participation in medical education in India has always been strong, with girls often comprising nearly 60 per cent of the NEET-UG medical entrance test registrants in recent years. And, dedicated girls’ medical colleges in India offer a tailored environment for female students to pursue medical education, fostering empowerment, security and academic focus. Dedicated girls’ medical colleges are often chosen by Indian students to ensure a focused education with maximum personal safety and opportunities for personal and professional growth. Students in girls’ colleges often show a higher academic focus and are more likely to complete graduate degrees, as observed in studies comparing women’s colleges with co-ed institutions. For many families in India, an all-girls institution removes hurdles related to conservative attitudes, making it easier for women to pursue careers in medicine.
One such institution is Symbiosis Medical College for Women (SMCW), located in Lavale on the outskirts of Pune in Maharashtra. This medical college was established primarily to promote women’s empowerment in healthcare and increase the number of lady doctors in India. Promoted by Symbiosis Deemed University, SMWC is a fully residential, exclusive women’s medical college with an annual intake of 150 MBBS students and an attached ultra-modern hospital. It aims to deliver optimum healthcare services to everyone and eventually contribute to India’s growing healthcare system. SMWC is the brainchild of S.B. Mujumdar, a distinguished academician and educationist & founder-chancellor, Symbiosis International (Deemed University). After seeing Anandi Gopal, a Marathi biographic movie about Anandibai Joshi, India’s first lady doctor, the idea of creating a medical college exclusively for women was born!
Improving quality of life
“An essential feature of our college’s mainstream in-house as well as community outreach activities is focused on promoting ‘women empowerment’,” says Rajiv Yeravdekar, provost, SMCW. “This is rooted in the philosophy of our academic institution that empowering a woman invariably transforms an entire generation”. He adds that Symbiosis has long demonstrated its commitment to women’s empowerment through scholarships and outreach programmes for underprivileged girls from villages surrounding the University campus. “Our ‘Sanjeevani’ initiative is a comprehensive and integrated effort aimed at improving the quality of life of girls and women through focused interventions in education, health, skills and entrepreneurship,” affirms Yeravdekar. Further, the ‘Symbiosis Community Outreach Programme and Extension’ or SCOPE initiative of Symbiosis Deemed University facilitates scholarship benefits to girls residing in 35 adopted villages of Maharashtra to pursue academic programmes at the University campus.
Also, AI has shifted from a novel tool to the central nervous system of Indian medical education at present, observes Yeravdekar, commenting on the importance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Indian medical education sector. SMCW plans to sign joint venture initiatives with the UK-based medical simulation companies for co-developing ‘AI Simulators’ that can be used for remote training with the aid of artificial intelligence technology. It will be known as the Indo-UK MedTech Bridge project. Internationalisation is in the DNA of Symbiosis, says Yeravdekar. “Established as a constituent of Symbiosis International University, SMCW too is committed to promoting the same for the benefit of all our girl students,” he affirms. “We uphold the best global practices of medical education so that every student of SMCW can deliver healthcare services, which are benchmarked globally”.
India has adopted an integrated approach to advancing the health, education, safety and security of women and girls. By investing in the well-being, education and protection of women and girls, well-known academic institutions like Symbiosis Medical College for Women strengthen families, uplift communities, and build human capital. Such girls’ colleges contribute directly to inclusive growth, gender equality, and long-term national development. As India surges ahead, sustained focus on empowering women and girls remains central to achieving transformative and lasting change.
Traditional societal norms amongst conservative Indian families often prioritise a son’s education over a daughter’s, unfortunately, causing some to view investing in a girl’s medical career as less important. In such a scenario, trusted medical institutions like SMCW provide MBBS programmes with top-tier training, high safety standards and specialised facilities for female medical professionals. Fortunately, women now constitute nearly 60 per cent of health science candidates in India, as medical education in India offers significant advantages for girls, including high career stability and prestigious social standing.